Work in body shops and garages to repair automobiles that have been wrecked or otherwise damaged often requires the physical handling of portions of the automobile that are quite heavy such as doors, bumpers or the like. It is normally necessary to employ several people for the proper handling of these heavy items during assembly or disassembly thereof. Even with several persons assisting, a large bumper weighing in the neighborhood of 350 pounds, dictates an inordinate amount of lifting. Moreover, the two or three persons must hold the workpiece in position through assembly or disassembly during periods when the workpiece is not supported by the portion of the automobile to which it is secured. Intricacies of body design detract from ease of assembly. Hence, close working areas are often encountered during assembly or disassembly of the work. All of these situations involve the use of several people in a job that remains dangerous. If one drops the workpiece, an arm, leg or other body portion may be severely damaged. Likewise, the sheer energy required to lift and hold the workpiece distracts from the job and may cause labor problems.
Not only is the manual manipulation of heavy automotive body parts awkward and dangerous, but use of the large number of persons merely for manual handling is very costly. The extra personnel are not needed during the actual repair function, but only during disassembly and replacement of the body part. In the interim, these people can perform other tasks. If no other tasks are available during this work interim, in effect, these laborers add to the overall cost of the repair without performance of any services during the repair function.
Prior attempts have been made to develop equipment for the handling of heavy component parts of an automobile or other items. Such devices have been developed in an attempt to avoid the need for extra personnel for manual manipulation of the workpiece. Prior attempts, for the most part, have not been successful for various and sundry reasons. Equipment previously produced has been generally restrictive insofar as the particular workpieces that may be handled thereby. Additionally, cost of the prior art attempts has been prohibitive in certain situations. Further, certain prior art devices have not even functioned in the intended manner to overcome the need for manual handling of the components.
The present invention affords a device that overcomes disadvantages of the prior art mentioned above. Specifically, the device of the present invention may be used as a jack for lifting one end of an automobile assuming the structural and operative components of the device possess the requisite strength. Normal use of the device of the present invention, however, is not as a jack, but as a means to support and hold heavy items, such as bumpers, doors and the like of an automobile while necessary work may be performed thereon. Furthermore, the device of the present invention is suitable to support the workpiece during assembly or removal of the component parts.
The prior patented art is devoid of any teaching or suggestion of the device of the present invention. Exemplary of the prior art are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,413,242 to Murray; 3,030,103 to Allen et al.; 3,220,565 to Wells, and 3,850,409 to Davis et al.